The two airports in Shanghai had a passenger traffic exceeding 100 million for 2016. The passenger traffic of Hongqiao Airport and Pudong Airport was 40.46 million and 66.002 million respectively, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.5% and 9.8% respectively.

Shanghai, with the two international airports of Pudong and Hongqiao, becomes the fifth city of whose air passengers exceeding 100 million. In the future, Hongqiao Airport would continue to position itself as a competitive airport, and Pudong Airport, which has greater extension potential, would further improve its status in the international hubs.

The premise of the discussion on if Shanghai needs a third airport is that the two airports cannot satisfy the current and future demands from market. For now, there could not be new airstrips. Furthermore, according to media reports, Shanghai Airport is planning a second terminal area for Pudong Airport, and to construct the sixth, seventh and eighth airstrips, which could enable Pudong Airport to meet the passenger traffic of 160 million by 2040. It means that in 5 to 10 years, the aviation market capacity of Shanghai's two airports needs to be deepened by improvement of air control technologies and airspace distribution technologies. Additonally, airlines could apply airplane types with more seats to meet the market demand.

Eventhough the flights per peak hour in some time buckets already amounted to 76 flights, many airports of domestic small and medium-sized cities expect to connect with Shanghai. Therefore, the main function of the third airport in Shanghai is to serve small and medium-sized airports in other city groups to connect with Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta region). To have a general view of the surrounding cities and to do an anallysis according to the city's rail transport and distance from Shanghai, the four airports in Ningbo, Wuxi, Nantong and Jiaxing have the potential to be the third airport of Shanghai.